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Post by bbbearsmom on Feb 8, 2017 0:24:10 GMT
What are your ideas for creating feasible eating plans while traveling?
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Post by lani on Feb 8, 2017 2:48:23 GMT
I basically try to limit starches and desserts, just like my normal life. My downfall is wine with dinner when on vacation.
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Post by jamescat1 on Feb 8, 2017 4:09:59 GMT
I make choices similar to what I would eat at home. I also tend to have more wine but limit it to no more than one glass a day.
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Post by keshet51 on Feb 8, 2017 12:33:58 GMT
Ooh this one has always been a challenge for me. Especially airports, delays, and feeling I have no control of the food offerings. Some airports are good, some are dreadful. I try my best to pack at least one meal for the plane plus snacks, but after that I am at the airport's mercy. I used to use travel as a justification to overeat and just "deal with it when I get home." That of course never worked very well. On a recent family vacation we all had our own condos and access to a good supermarket so I was able to get the foods I wanted and plan meals that were good for me. It was great. Staying in hotels is more difficult, as is staying with my daughter when I go visit her a few times a year in Colorado. They eat their meals much later than I do, more snacking, really challenging always. Last time I went I sent her a list of things to have in the house so at least i had breakfast covered, but it does seem like a lot of the time I'm trying to manage things and it can be exhausting.
I look forward to reading other comments here on this topic. I usually do fine for awhile and then get worn out by trying to find solutions to the endless meal challenges...
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mariel
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Post by mariel on Feb 8, 2017 14:07:57 GMT
I identify a lot with Andi's post. We are leaving Sat for 2 weeks. We will be in a condo and should have access to groceries and will have a small kitchen. We plan to eat our main meal of the day at lunch time while we are out and about....honestly, I don't go on vacation to cook  . We will keep the later meal light. I haven't tried this before. We have a 2 day drive to get to our destination so that will be a challenge. I plan to have LF cheese; turkey pepperoni (a real point bargain and high in protein) fruit with me. Marie |
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Post by bbbearsmom on Feb 8, 2017 15:56:02 GMT
Marie: Your plans sound good.
I don't travel much. Usually I carry snack bars and nuts with me. The nuts are premeasured and in little baggies. My big deal eating out is working on getting myself to stop eating at satisfied. I am always served too much food in a restaurant. The last time I stayed in a hotel I did have a refrigerator and microwave in my room. That really helped. I was able to make my oatmeal, have my yogurt and fruit, and if I got a foot long Subway sandwich save some of it for later. This was good because I can still fall apart when I eat in a restaurant.
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Post by linda72 on Feb 8, 2017 17:09:42 GMT
When we travel I try to have some WW friendly snacks with me: bags of walnuts, cheese sticks, fruit. If we are in the car, I pack more things in a cooler: yogurt, turkey slices. Like many of you said, when I'm on vacation, I don't want to be cooking all of my meals. I will drink more wine on vacation but limit it to one glass. I try to stay away from starches and the desserts have to be really special before I indulge. I do the best I can until I get home.
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ladymajky
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Post by ladymajky on Feb 8, 2017 18:16:55 GMT
We are going on a cruise later this month. I have found I do best with eating the same breakfast and lunch I would have at home. Then for supper I try foods that are new and different for me. Maybe a different cuisine-like Indian. Maybe a meat that I don't know much about-like lamb. The cruise ships make it easy to have just a little portion to get a taste. In the evenings, DH and I make it a ritual to have one of those foo-foo umbrella drinks. I do that instead of dessert. I usually track what I eat the first two days or so, then abandon the effort if there is a lot of unfamiliar food. During the day I take the stairs in the ship, do at least one mile walking laps on the walking track, and/or go to the fitness center if the weather is too bad for the outdoor walking track.
On road trips we do pretty much the same thing. Breakfast and lunch like what I would have at home. Dinner is harder to control, so I try to get a salad or veggie with grilled chicken or fish. We don't snack in the car because we don't like the smell of spilled food in the upholstery. We usually make a rest stop mid-afternoon at a gas/food truck stop. It's one of the few times I go to a fast-food place.
For plane trips, we usually stay the night before at a hotel near the airport, so we are not leaving directly from home. It's too hard to think about snacks that I can pack two days in advance. I point out to DH that it's only a two hour flight from home to Atlanta, and then another two hour flight from Atlanta to Ft Lauderdale. He can go that long without eating! At the airport I can generally find fruit or a banana (for an outrageous price!) if I have to have something. If we eat a meal during a layover, I order something WW-friendly: veggie burger or hamburger/hold-the-bun, or grilled chicken sandwich. No fries. No ice cream in the airport because it's not special enough. Not much drinking because I don't want to pee on the airplane.
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Post by surfgirl on Feb 8, 2017 18:58:03 GMT
Well, you all know this is my kryptonite! Mainly because I'm vegetarian and when I travel overseas it's often to African countries, where meat is everywhere, and the only veg options are usually pizza, pasta or toasted cheese sandwiches. Sometimes salad isn't an option if I don't feel it's safe to eat raw foods in a particular place. So it's a conundrum. I think I like what lani said about limiting starches and desserts, though sometimes starches are all I can eat that's vegetarian so there's that. I don't usually eat desserts but I should just cut them out altogether and have fresh fruit if it's available and I want something after dinner. I usually am facilitating workshops so I've got to be up very early (am not a morning person) so exercising early early isn't usually possible for me. And I often work until mid evening or later so I struggle with exercise time, which probably could help me out a lot, but it is what it is. Tammy recently suggested that I simply try to maintain where I am when I leave on a trip, and I think I'll try that next month when I'm away for 2.5 weeks. I have limited luggage room for bring snacks with me, I've tried in the past, but it's also a cultural thing. If we're on a tea break, and I don't partake with the participants, it can be interpreted as being culturally insensitive...oy...I get tired just typing this stuff out!
ANYway...strategies for travel. I think I can say no to nut snacks when on the plane, and turn down desserts on plane. That's doable. I think I can see if it's possible to walk in the early AM with my colleague on this upcoming trip, but if not, I'm not going to stress over it. It's more important that I get good sleep each night so I'm on my A game with work. I can try to limit my starches, and talk to the kitchen about LF food options, though that's going to be difficult for them to understand SO, I can try to simply eat appropriate PORTIONS of things like pasta. I can do marinara sauce with steamed veggies, and more veggies than pasta, that's easy to do. I just need to talk to the restaurant team as soon as I arrive. Usually if you say vegetarian they'll make you curry til the cows come home, and that's not LF at all.
I am open to suggestions on this as it's what knocked me off my game in the past. This is my biggest challenge on my WLJ. |
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pbnj
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Post by pbnj on Feb 8, 2017 20:18:52 GMT
Last year was a big travel year for us--cruise to Panama canal, cruise to Norway fjords, a week in Montreal and a river cruise and land tour of Portugal. Don't hate on me but I lost weight on every trip!! I never tracked but feel I ate sensibly and mindfully. Tried to have protein at every meal. Salads for lunch on the cruises was an easy choice. Usually I limited myself to bread-like carbs to once a day, but I did enjoy occasional desserts and especially wine! I think the fact there were NO snack times and I was only exposed to food at mealtime, that I made better choices. Had to let go off the mentality that I would starve if I didn't have a "food stash"! I know that the extra steps and exercise helped balance any food choices. Walking on tours, climbing steps on cruise ships, walking the deck (treadmill on riverboat ) seemed to balance the wine at night and any special "treats".
Planes and airports are a concern for sure. Hot dog without a bun, wimpy looking salads, even some nuts were frequently the only "good" choices! But in the past I would have chosen big fat blueberry muffins and thought I was being "good"!!
No travel plans as yet this year. The world situation has me a bit skittish at the moment. Will be interesting to see if my trip weight loss changes now that I'm back to Lifetime and not actively losing.
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Post by jancanlose2016 on Feb 8, 2017 23:06:06 GMT
I try to be mindful of what I'm eating and minimally try to eat a light breakfast and have a salad with some lean protein and dressing on the side for lunch. For dinner I try to order fish or chicken and go easy on the side dishes. Generally I just order water with my restaurant meals (coffee for breakfast). Whatever I do, it's a challenge. I try to find some fruit and take along either some WW pre-packaged snacks, or bags of unsalted almonds for when I get particularly hungry. I always manage to splurge somewhere along the way, then it's hard to get back on track!
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Post by bbbearsmom on Feb 9, 2017 0:31:24 GMT
Good posts today.
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Tammy
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Post by Tammy on Feb 9, 2017 7:07:56 GMT
Most of the time I lose weight while traveling.
If possible, I stick to the "bones" of my diet. The bones are things like my yogurt/blackberry/fiber one that I have twice/day. The yogurt has lots of protein. The blackberries and fiber one have lots of fiber. It is also very filling. I often choose the "closest to simply filling" choice, ie. grilled steak or chicken, salad (I avoid the croutons, cheese (or limit), etc.) I often will only take a small bite of the bread to taste it. I still try to avoid food that is going to get me into trouble, like large amounts of bread, pasta, etc. Big carbs=big hunger. Desserts are mostly just a few bites to taste. Breakfast is often the easiest meal to choose well or very badly. Face it, you've had a lot of bagels in your life. They're nothing special. Choose the hard boiled egg or egg white veggie omelet.
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Post by doordie50 on Feb 9, 2017 17:20:56 GMT
Offline yesterday - some really great ideas posted. I'm big on bites to taste (to avoid deprivation response). Perhaps you could decide this will be a pizza-free trip and act as if its not available? - it would force a different go-to staple. When I'm away, I try to stick to my usual breakfast and lunch of fruit, cereal and yogurt but, when it comes down to it, surviving time away from home always hinges on two things; getting enough protein and portion control.
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